For the third and final week of my Asian tour I'm back in Thailand, this time in Bangkok for a developing country vaccine manufacturers' conference. The hotel towers a dizzying 55 floors above the Bangkok convention center, with its head often in the clouds as it's currently rainy season.
On Saturday I was invited on a city tour by Sangsarn, a long time family friend of friends in Seattle. Auspiciously, the rain that had started at 6:30am tailed off and stopped shortly before Sangsarn arrived to pick me up at the hotel, and held off for the rest of the day. We traveled like the locals do - first on the Sky Train to the Central Pier and then took a commuter boat up the Chao Phra river, which was churning after all the rain. We passed the Temple of Dawn - Wat Arun - on the left bank, although it was in scaffolding for repairs, and the Royal Navy base before landing just above the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. After a quick bite for lunch on the river we toured the palace. Free for Thais, expensive for foreigners! The palace and temples contained within its grounds were overwhelming - so much decoration packed into a relatively compact area. There were four different pagodas, each built in a different style to contain the ashes of a different king. Bangkok was founded much later than Ayutthaya so the buildings were 'only' a couple of hundred years old.
Wat Phra Kaew contains the Emerald Buddha, carved from a single piece of jade. Although relatively small it was awe-inspiring. The temple walls inside were painted with murals depicting scenes from Buddha's life. Sangsarn explained that an Italian professor at the School of Fine Arts which is located across the street had led an initiative to restore and maintain the artworks in the Palace, which the students now do on a regular basis.
Next we hopped on a tuk-tuk to go a short distance down the street to Wat Pho. It gets so hot and humid in Bangkok that locals pay for short hops The temple was built around the statue to be a snug fit; you can't get a full view of the Buddha by design, you can only peek between the columns that support the roof. The entire length of the temple along his back is lined with begging bowls into which people drop alms for the monks. Wat Pho is also famous for being the original school for Thai massage. Sangsarn and I went for foot massages there. The masseuses lean their whole weight on you and press every acupressure point hard with a strigil, pull each toe until the joints crack and finish off with a neck and back massage. It must have been good because I slept soundly for 10 hours that night!
After the massages we took another tuk tuk to the flower market, where orchids galore were piled high and stallholders threaded garlands of lotus and marigolds. Then we headed into the narrow red-brick paved alleys of Chinatown. You had to dive out of the way to avoid the motorcycles which took up the entire width of the alley. Most of the shops we walked past were selling shoes. We made our way over to the station to meet Aye, Sangsarn's wife, and then the three of us took a long tuk tuk ride to find a Chinese restaurant that Sangsarn particularly liked, only to find it closed and in the middle of a major renovation. So we ate next door instead!
The last stop of the evening was a bar mysteriously tucked away in an alley, Tep Bar, where traditional Thai theater music is played. The musicians were four young men, a vocalist who chimed Indian bells in time in his hand, a virtuoso xylophonist who played on a curved rosewood instrument, a drummer who sounded very much like an Indian drummer and a flute player who doubled and ornamented over the xylophone on a vertical bamboo flute. The music reminded me of Indian classical music although the meter (in 4) and tunes were much simpler to follow. Sangsarn and Aye explained that the piece was a play and the songs were about rural life (roosters, training an ox to plow etc). Also fascinating was the little wicker basket that was hauled by waiters on a knotted rope made of torn cotton fabric up and down from the bar to the upstairs room with orders, glasses and small plates of food.
The next morning, since it wasn't yet raining, I ventured out on foot to explore the local area. There are elevated walkways that run parallel to the skytrain which is a nice way to stay safe from traffic, sudden downpours and give a great aerial viewpoint. I passed the Erawan shrine to Brahma which I think was bombed about a month ago but there were no signs of lasting damage and the shrine was doing brisk business with worshippers lining up with marigold garlands and incense. Traditional dancers with tall pointed gold headpieces sang and danced in a small pavilion behind the shrine, accompanied by similar instruments to the ones I'd seen the previous evening at the bar.
I walked about 1km to Lumphini Park, a true urban jungle where giant monitor lizards roam and swim in the ornamental lakes. The first one I saw gave me quite a start! After that I headed to Chidlom where I'd read there was a store that sold Thai designs - very disappointingly it was yet another department store full of western designer brands, not at all what I wanted, although I did find some street vendors along the walk that had some local crafts and textiles. Walking back to National Stadium I stumbled on a design center that had contemporary Thai arts and crafts, which was much better. My last stop was Jim Thompson House, a beautiful conglomeration of six old teak Thai houses combined into an east-west hybrid of a home filled with art and antiquities by the owner, who was quite a character - former CIA, revived the craft silk industry in Thailand and then mysteriously disappeared in 1967 while on a walk in Malaysia. As I made my way back to the hotel the heavens opened but thanks to my umbrella and the vast malls and aerial walkways I made it back without getting wet.
The rain continued all afternoon so I couldn't even swim in the hotel's rooftop (and open to the elements) pool. I stayed in the hotel and watched 'The King and I', for which Jim Thompson made his name supplying Thai silk for the original stage show, on Youtube.
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